Author: Dominique

I love sharing about things that make me feel happy: yoga, Pilates, wellness, food, style and beauty (inside and out!). Follow me on my blog and Instagram @dominiquefrancesca
Thriving on Peace: The Yoga of Pregnancy. Beginnings

Thriving on Peace: The Yoga of Pregnancy. Beginnings

by Dominique ♥ 1 Comment

feet

A little chat about the mysterious inkling, hints and symptoms of pregnancy and some of my experiences in the very beginning.

“Did you know right away?”

No, I didn’t even know left away.

A lot of women I speak to say that they just knew when they were pregnant. Some dreamt of their baby within a day of conceiving. Others felt a twinge.

“I just knew, you know?“

No, I don’t know. I had no idea. Not a single clue. Ok, maybe there were clues, I just didn’t know them for clues.

If you have seen my Instagram posts you would perhaps come across one where I mentioned having been out of action because of this brilliant bout of flu I had been having.

Most of June and a lot of July had been spent attempting to sleep my way out of the thing. Shortly after I had recovered, it was time to bundle up for a flight back home for a few weeks.

Some women have wonderfully regular cycles, mine is sort of “flexible”. Travel is one of those activities which impacts on my cycle so it didn’t seem strange that there was a delay. I was a little softer around my edges which also seemed normal, being a combination of having not been very active lately due to the flu, just getting off a long flight and also because of the particular point in my cycle I thought I was at. As my cycle length stretched onwards towards infinity, a girlfriend urged me to test.
But I was starting to cramp, so I decided to leave it.

A week of cramping went by.

And that’s when I started to suspect something was going ON.

SLOW ON THE UPTAKE, right?

For those who don’t already know, a lot of the symptoms of pregnancy resemble the symptoms women experience prior to menstruation.  But CRAMPING, seriously?! Why on earth would I have cramps and think, “Yup, I’m definitely pregnant.“

Of course I’m going to go pick up some tampons.

So symptoms are not always that helpful unless you own a “I just know” radar. Myself, I “just know” when women around me are pregnant, but apparently my radar only works on other networks not on my own. I remember being a little girl and walking towards my piano teacher one afternoon. As I walked towards her, I said to my mother, “She’s pregnant.“She totally was. The words just fell right out of my mouth. And then I proceeded to tell her it was a boy. It totally was a boy. Kids, huh.

Cut to me now.

“You’re pregnant.”

“Huh?“

I worried that this meant I wasn’t CONNECTING to my baby. Where was my awareness? Were we not bonding? After trying to take care of myself so that I would be as healthy for birthing a baby as possible, here I was, fluey and clueless. I remember hearing that from the moment a person has a child, they worry about that child until.. forever. My worrying had started from conception. Actually no, it started as soon as I peed on a stick.

And then I shook myself mentally. I realised I was completely missing the point! Here we were so so so lucky to find ourselves in this happy position, waiting on a baby. Was this how I wanted to spend my pregnancy?! I had always wanted a calm pregnancy and now it seemed that was exactly what I had on my hands. A calm and easy pregnancy.

Pregnancy is so synonymous with morning sickness. People constantly asked me, “Any nausea?“

“Nope.“

A host of websites informed me that nausea was positively correlated with a healthy pregnancy. Crap! Where was my nausea?! I had aversions to a few things but when it came to nausea I had about two weeks of morning sickness, at most. And all in the afternoon and evening time. And it mostly felt like indigestion.

People with good intentions trying or genuinely interested in my pregnancy continued to ask me about morning sickness, not realising it would remind me that I didn’t have any of this thing that was associated with a strong pregnancy. I thought calm thoughts as best as I could and reassured myself that I was LUCKY. Much later, I was informed that in all likelihood, I wasn’t experiencing much nausea because of the type of food choices I made and because I was drinking so much water.

Other than that, I felt kind of ordinary although very sleepy.

VERY sleepy. I was constantly tired in the first few months. I’d wake up super early (to pee) and then I’d go back to bed, toss for a while, feeling RAVENOUS, and finally haul myself out in search of food. After that, I’d manage to stay up for a few hours before I took a really long nap (anywhere between one hour to five hours). I’d gone from being someone who struggled to nap to a total Nap Queen. I started thinking I might just sleep through the pregnancy.

“Someone wake me up when my water breaks.” I’d say.

bump

I’d wake up and manage one or two conversations before I’d yawn. Oh, eight o’clock! Time to pee and get into bed.

Going to bed was a major operation. Before getting into bed I would go pee, so that I wouldn’t need to get back up again. I’d settle down in my nest of pillows and close my eyes with a happy sigh once I found the perfect position. A few seconds later I’d realise I needed to go pee again. FINE. So off I went. And then I would come back, have my sip of water, lie back down. Hmm. Was that it though? Better go back. FINE. Etc.

I probably walked a kilometre each night going between my bed and my bathroom all those times.

B was very kind and offered to get me anything I craved no matter what time.

“Just wake me up honey if you get hungry and you want something.” His friends had warned him their wives wanted KFC and nutella pancakes at all hours of the night.

“I’ll get back to you.” The thought of chicken made me feel green but I decided to keep the food delivery option open.

I never ended up using that wild card. Around three in the morning, B would wake up to a crunching sound. Turning on the light on his side he’d realise it was me and not some giant crunching on bones in his dreams.

“Are you… eating?!“

“I’m just crushing apples with my jaws to make cider. Nothing to see here, go back to sleep.“

A lot of women suggested keeping a box of crackers beside the bed. I disliked the idea of crumbs flying everywhere so I would chop up two apples and keep them in the fridge. When it was that time of the morning I’d go get them and munch happily away. After two or three pieces, I’d rinse my teeth and roll over for another snooze until it was time to pee again.

It’s the first time where I’ve truly felt hunger pains. Not pangs but true pain. It physically HURTS not to eat when I feel hungry. Just like it physically HURTS LIKE MAD if I don’t pee when I need to.

My body changed shape quite quickly in my eyes. I looked like I’d had breast implants and they entered the room a full half hour before the rest of me followed. Every top was a cleavage loving top. My rib cage became wider very early on and my belly which was usually a little firmer became rounded so I couldn’t zip up a certain dress that highlighted my waist. The first week I realised I was pregnant, I had two pimples on my face where I never got pimples and a small patch of dry skin on my face, eczema-ish in appearance. I have never had eczema. They all cleared after a week and I peered at my reflection wondering if I was glowing. Looked pretty ordinary to me. Aside from the cleavage. I mean, whoa. Welcome, sisters.

Oh, let’s see, what else?

Cravings! I had just two cravings. One was fresh orange juice WITH THE PULP. The pulp was very important.And the other was chilled watermelon. To be perfectly honest these are things I like to eat even pre-pregnancy but for various reasons I don’t usually indulge in them very often. I figured compared to all the other people with cravings for clay or tacos or fried chicken that at least I would get some nutritional value. Later I discovered that I may as well cut out the middle man and just eat oranges fresh. Worked just as well! As a bonus, when I went through my two minutes of nausea I discovered that the chilled watermelon really helped. You might like to try that and let me know if it helped!

the-other-craving
the-craving
all-the-oranges

Exercise wise I was too tired most days. I took a break from my regular yoga routine which a lot of senior yoga teachers suggest practitioners do in the first trimester. Just the thought of being up and MOVING for 45 – 90 minutes made me want to lie down. Instead, I did small 10 – 15 minute intervals of very gentle yoga and Pilates exercises to keep my body feeling mobile and my core strong so that I wouldn’t get too much back pain. That seems to have paid off so far. When I had the energy and the weather permitted I would go down to the pool for a short swim. A little walking. A lot of meditation.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJeZjG4g-8b

Processed with Rookie Cam

I think meditation has been one of the best tools I’ve had for adjusting to pregnancy and hopefully towards parenthood.

Due to some combination of meditation, yoga, a user-friendly batch of pregnancy hormones and loads of naps, I haven’t had any mood swings. I remember one day I was really tired. B had snored ALL NIGHT and I couldn’t sleep through the noise. By the afternoon I was so exhausted I felt really grumpy and I told B how I was feeling really short tempered due to my frustration. We got through the day without anyone getting hurt hahaha. Slept like a baby that night and we went back to being happy pregnant people. Aside from that day, my mood has been really stable. Phew! Friends would meet up with us and later message B to say,

“Gosh, she seems really happy.“

Towards the end of my first trimester my energy levels improved and I went back to practising slightly more active yoga. Initially I sought the guidance of my first yoga teacher who guided me with making adjustments and modifications. She is an Iyengar teacher and Iyengar Yoga felt like the best way for me to return to a safe and supportive practice. With the information I learned from her and a few other senior teachers,  I returned to my regular home practice. I’m almost in my third trimester now and have been doing this modified version of my regular practice for a few weeks now. It feels so good to be back to it!

back-to-yoga

By the second trimester the nocturnal toilet visits reduced, thank goodness, and my cravings which had gradually reduced over time went away. I’m still pretty interested in orange juice but it’s not a big deal if I don’t get any for days or weeks at a stretch. Also I stopped waking up at all hours of the morning needing food so the apple chopping operation has ceased. Now I just find that when I wake up in the morning, I want to have something for breakfast before I can meditate.

Pregnancy has turned me into a breakfast person!

perks-of-pregnancy

I’m now at the stage where I can balance my plate (albeit a smallish one) on my belly. Brilliant! Goodbye tables, I have my own built in, hehe.

That’s all I can think of to say for now about the first trimester. Hopefully that helps! If there’s anything else you wanted to know, just ask and I’ll share what I’ve experienced!

xx

Haul All The Cuteness: Unboxing GILT – Baby Wardrobe

Haul All The Cuteness: Unboxing GILT – Baby Wardrobe

by Dominique

A few years ago, B went to some outlet in LA and came back with three, maybe four, pairs of sneakers for himself and one pair of Converse kicks for the baby. We didn’t have a baby and I wasn’t pregnant.

*exchanges meaningful look with you*

THIS year, I found out I was pregnant. In her excitement my mum promptly went out and bought three pairs of shoes for the baby. During the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales this year, I saw the cutest dinkiest sweetest pair of baby shoes by Burberry on GILT. And instantly I understood why people keep buying shoes for babies. They’re just so darn cute! I hmm’d and ha’d over them for the longest time.

I showed my laptop screen to B.

“OMG THEY’RE SO ADORABLE, GET THEM ALREADY.”

“Ok, ok. Well, whilst I’m here, let’s have a look-see what else these babies purchase.”

And that’s how I ended up with a cart containing one pair of baby shoes, three pairs of organic pants, two sets of swaddle cloths, four rompers, one hat and a partridge in a pear tree. You get the drift. I lost my mind over all the cuteness. Ugh.

I mulled over the cart for a few more days, telling myself that if the shoes were still available online then ok, fine, I’ll get them. But NO MORE SHOES AFTER THAT. Newborns don’t even walk so why do they even need all that footwear for?

I checked back in a few days later, and the shoes sat there in my cart, patiently waiting for me. So I got them and along with them I picked up a few organic clothes for the baby. I culled most of the items I saved to my cart, keeping just the organic clothing that was reasonably priced and generously discounted. Who doesn’t add a ton of stuff to their cart and later laugh at the idea of actually buying everything? I’ve never heard of the brands aside from Burberry, I’ve never heard of most baby brands since my clients are always fully grown humans but I thought you might like to see what I ended up getting after several days of mulling.

Update: After I made my order I said to B, “OK! No more shoes for the baby for a while!” Minutes later we walked past a clothing boutique for children and he dashed in. Guess what he bought? More shoes. 

gilt-delivery

I’ve never been THIS excited to see a box full of items that aren’t for me delivered. NEVER.gilt-opening

genius-place-to-put-a-sticker
WHO puts the sticker on the TOP of a lid?!

Genius sticker placement. Well done whoever did that. burberry-box-lid

Those of you who, like me, love pretty containers and boxes, will probably heave a sigh of relief when I tell you that the sticker peeled off easily. But still, who puts a label on the TOP of a box instead of the side? So weird.

burberry-baby
If these came in my size…

Oh my goodness. I can’t stand how ridiculously cute these are. I showed them to mum and jokingly suggested I could turn these into key chains when the baby grows out of them. She immediately said, yeah, one for you and one for me. She sure took to that idea real quick.

cutest-mc-hammer-pants

Have you heard of Nui Organics? I’ve never heard of it but I like the pattern and the soft pastel colour. Texture wise it doesn’t feel majorly soft but it’s organic and I’ve found when clothes are super soft they get holes in them from washing quite quickly. for-the-baby-astronaut

This is from The Bonnie Mob and also says it is organic. I just love the bright colours and the happy print! Who knows, baby might want to be an astronaut! The clip buttons down near the diaper area will make logistics easy to navigate. more-pink

Another organic romper but with short sleeves in case things get too warm. I came across an old interview of Tom Ford and he was saying how he told his son that children don’t look good in black. “Ok, then I’ll wear grey” was the response he got. Kids are hysterical aren’t they?haul-all-the-things

So, that was my first experience shopping for tiny humans! What do you think of my choices? And do you know anything about these labels? Any good? Please let me know down below! collage

*This isn’t a sponsored post, I’m not connected to any of these labels or to GILT.

Friday Pilates Faves – Arms (Triceps) plus a baby bump!

Friday Pilates Faves – Arms (Triceps) plus a baby bump!

by Dominique ♥ 1 Comment

I’m trying to post ten things at once, so me being me, my update that I’m pregnant will probably upload LAST. But yes, I’m pregnant! Ta-daaah! I know, I disappear a few months and show up with news like this. Doesn’t it keep our conversations exciting though? No one can ever say my replies to “what’s new” are dull anymore. 

pregnancy pilates

Back to one of my favourite movements ever. Whilst I sleep A LOT, it also feels great to keep the body moving so I’ve been trying to work on strengthening my body to keep myself well for the remainder of my pregnancy, labour and then beyoooooond (LOTS OF BABY LUGGING). Cue a lot of Pilates exercises. Let’s get to it.

Triceps extension (top to match resistance band not needed!)

Baby bump not required – you don’t HAVE TO be pregnant to do this. Duh!

If you are pregnant, you should have already gotten an ok from your doctor to exercise.

  1. Grip one end of your resistance band in each fist. Rest on fist down by your side and take your other arm up overhead to cradle your ear and messy top bun. (See vid below)
  2. Breathing steadily the entire time, slowly extend the top arm straight without letting the elbow shift.
  3. Bend the arm to return to start and repeat.

☄️I do 10 – 20 repetitions of each side, 10 normal speed and then 10 verrrrrry slowly. You can start by doing 5 at a normal speed and then 5 a little slower, gradually building up.

☄️If you don’t have a resistance band, you could hold a can or a small water bottle in your top hand. Nothing too heavy! The point is to focus on engaging your arm muscles for both directions of the movement, especially pay attention to resisting the return motion. You’ll get loads of strength benefits just from creating your own resistance.

☄️Be safe! Keep the working side shoulder down and the side of the body long. Avoid twisting in the torso. Keep the belly gently drawing inwards to protect the back. Pregnant ladies can visualise “hugging the baby”. At no point should you have any pain in your back or feel tension in your shoulder-neck region.

pregnancy pilates

Let me know if you try this out and enjoy the rest of your day! xx

🌸

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Goddess Vibes x Drill Exercise: Be Kind and Stay Still = Strength.

by Dominique

 

“perhaps just get more kind to yourself and those around you”

— apt words from my June horoscope

Once in a while I’ll stumble upon a horoscope, article, instagram and marvel at how perfectly these small happenings are timed to lessons and themes I am currently working on. For instance, the last few months have been really focused on the concept of kindness and softness. They’re NOT easy! It has taken so long for me to break down my need to never show softness and never backdown to really embrace how being soft can be a different kind of strength. Life isn’t just about how good a smackdown you can give or how feisty you can be. It’s terrifying and exhilarating to find that within all that being gentle, deep down there is a reservoir of true strength to withstand all outside forces as well as all the inner crazy. The best defence may be a good offence in sports but in life the best defence is inner strength. 

Continuously working on the ability to stay perfectly gracefully still despite everything going on will build up your strength reserves mentally as well as physically. You’ll only get stronger this way and you’ll always feel centered, because your center is strong! Today’s drill is the perfect physical illustration of that wonderful kooky circular logic. You’re staying as still as you can, whilst working on strengthening your core and you won’t need to do a single crunch, hurray! It works for me and I hope it will for you too. Try it and let me know!

Enough chit-chat from me, let’s do this.

THE STAY STILL [Working title I’m sticking with this – besides aren’t we over ‘labels’ already?]

Repeat this exercise 3 to 5 times, several times a week and you’ll definitely feel stronger physically and hopefully get closer to experiencing grace under pressure, even if it’s merely during the course of a yoga class. It will be worth it – eventually that grace will translate to beyond your physical class! 

  1. Start in a kneeling position
  2. Place your hands either side of your knees
  3. Lean your weight into your hands and press strongly into the ground as you exhale
  4. Breathe your belly button in and up towards your spine
  5. On your next exhalation squeeze your knees towards your chest
  6. Hold as you breathe in and out for 5 rounds of breathing (something like the picture above)
  7. Inhale and squeeze your knees in a little more then 
  8. Lower down on your next exhalation. (Finally!)
  9. Advance this by squeezing one heel off the floor and hold. 
  10. Super advance this by squeezing both heels off the floor. You’re basically ready to levitate. 

If it feels horrible for the front of your feet then you can start off kneeling with your toes tucked under. As you press up you will come high up onto your toes. When you’re stronger you can try again with your feet flat. 

 

Tips

Your back will naturally round — go with that instinct. 

Use your midsection to pull your knees into the curve of your body. Squeezing your inner thighs together will help activate your core just that extra more. As much of your weight is off the floor, not just dangling into the fronts of your feet.

Even though your back is rounded, don’t hunch your shoulders into your ears! And don’t scrunch your face! All the work is deep, deep down in your core. The rest of you is to resemble the surface of still water. 

What it do?

I’m glad you asked. This will work your entire core as well as your ability to maintain your straight-arm strength. With your knees sucked in as close to your body as you can you’ll notice how hard your belly is working to keep that knees to chest connection going. The back gets a great stretch too. 

Alternatives for wrist issues

Just do the same thing but laying on your back and imagine your pressing your hands into the ceiling and pushing it away. You’ll still get all the benefits and you’ll have a great time curling your body away from the floor. NOT EASY. You’ll know you’re doing it right because you’ll just know. 

You can build up as you get stronger by doing the alternative in addition. Make the two versions part of your regular strength exercise.

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Friday Feels Groovy: Picnics at Sunset and Soulful Tunes

by Dominique

boatsandbrews tumblr post

(Image from Tumblr)

It’s starting to rain over here (which I love) but at the same time I can’t help wondering:

Who would like to go sit on the beach at sunset eating gooey pizza out of the box and talk about the universe and our souls and magic and maybe not talk at all because

everything is so

perfect

?

Audio

Chill Zone – Love is the magic ingredient, but also, music?

by Dominique

I always think that good food IS made with love but also a relaxed spirit. I’m all about the right energy. For me that means listening to some chillout songs – I even have a playlist filled with songs I love to cook to. One of these days I’ll add a playlist of songs to eat to, ha!

I just heard this song for the first time this afternoon and it’s an instant favourite. It’s just so groovy and chill and casual. The title could not be more perfect! I’m listening to this now right now as I make dinner, which is some turmeric soup (I’m trying to crawl out of the flu) and some amazing thyme flavoured green lentils that I have mixed with spinach, chickpeas and bright yellow capsicum. I’m going to enjoy all of that on a bed of fluffy white rice. I snuck in a few taste tests and so delicious! It’s gotta be the music. Recipe will be up soon but for now enjoy this song! x

How GOOD is it?! Right?! On repeat.

Prescription for Joy: Radiate Love and Light – 40 Day Practice

Prescription for Joy: Radiate Love and Light – 40 Day Practice

by Dominique ♥ 1 Comment

B and I started a 40 day practice this month. Usually we have our own activities we like to do in order to feel good: mine would be yoga, Pilates, watching old TV shows, and his would be basketball (REAL and XBOX). This month we decided that the New Moon would be the perfect time to start a shared daily practice for 40 days to boost our energy and spirit levels.

We are STILL doing our favourite activities, naturally!

Everyday we practice a set sequence of yoga postures, followed by mantra meditation and we drink a green drink that I labelled our ‘Elixir’. This last part is major because B has never been on board with drinking anything green although I feel like that’s being very picky since he is slightly colour blind anyway? For all he knows it could be pink? SUDDENLY he can tell it’s green. I mean.

Anyway.

The mantra we chant is personal to each of us but I’ll share mine with you below. We chant out loud and with confidence, 11 times and then we sit quietly and let things marinate.

Somedays we do our practice in the evening like last night when we came home from a wedding party. We showered, changed and stepped on our mats. Then we had our green drink. We slept like babies even with both of us recovering from the flu.

It feels wonderful!

To go along with our 40 day practice we also cut out coffee. I typically drink a lot of coffee, alarming amounts even, but I’ve never had any issue with stopping. I never even get headaches if I go without coffee but it’s that comfort factor that I like. I love comfort! So when I want a warm drink I’ll make myself a Coconut Maca drink. I’m having one righttttttt now. 

 
I’m very lucky I’ve never enjoyed soft drinks and I drink a lot of room temperature water. Even warm water in a mug can be comforting. I make a ritual out of heating the water up, choosing a favourite mug (B and I both like to hog the same mugs) and then enjoying the steam puff up. It’s all about the ritual and process! Aren’t humans funny?

We started out as a very small community of just two, but in just over a week a few of our friends have started to join in. One of my girlfriends asked for a shopping list so she could run out and grab all the ingredients for the ‘elixir’ the very next morning.

Which is great! The more the merrier, and slowly little by little we generate more good vibes. If you would like to join us (we’d love to have you!) feel free to come up with your own mantra, or use mine:

RADIATE

Be well and be radiant! xoxo

Easy Recipe: I don’t even like noodles but I can’t stop eating these. Plus Chinese Vocab!

Easy Recipe: I don’t even like noodles but I can’t stop eating these. Plus Chinese Vocab!

by Dominique

“These are amazing. What did you put in here?” he mumbled through a mouthful.

“My childhood memories.“

There are certain things that you can’t get at Chinese restaurants. You gotta go to someone’s home, sit in their kitchen and watch as wheat noodles are boiled, drained, tossed in sesame oil and then stir fried with some simple vegetables.

THE BEST.

You gotta.

I don’t even like noodles! So go figure. Ok that is a huge generalisation – I like rice noodles, spaghetti and those glass noodles made of green beans. But when my mum cooks noodles this way, I can’t get enough.

超级简单清炒面 | Ultra Simple Stir Fried Noodles

Vocab:
超级 (chāo jí) Super/Ultra
简单 (jiǎn dān) Simple
清炒 (qīng chǎo) Stir Fry
面 (miàn) Noodles! (the character doesn’t include the exclamation point but I just get really excited talking about food)
Doesn’t matter how many times I read the instructions on the back of the packet, I’ll always cook noodles for a small group of 10. Come over for dinner?
Or do it yourself:
1. Cook appropriate amount of noodles (ahem)
2. Drain noodles and toss with sesame oil and let cool, lift the noodles to let the steam escape. You don’t want the noodles to stick together. THIS TAKES AGES. Alternate arms and repeat. FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

lift and toss
3. Stir fry veggies – heat the oil, then add in your crunchy veg, the less crunch stuff and then your flavourings.

(OIL, CRUNCHY, LEAFY, SAUCEY or OCLS which is not helpful at all, sounds like some kind of college and actually makes things worse?)

I like using coconut oil and then for flavouring I add chilli, white pepper, sea salt. I like my food light but you can add soy sauce of course. Also, I can’t eat too much soy products. IF you were to use soy sauce, get yourself a good quality ‘Light Soy Sauce’. Don’t just grab that bottle of soy sauce with the red pouring cap thingy, there is an entire world of soy sauce out there. I used to take people on tours of Asian supermarkets and we stood in the sauce aisle for ages discussing all the different flavours you can make. A world of soy sauce.

YELLOW!

Tip: When stir frying veg, you want the pan to be HOT and you want to move FAST so the veg still says crunchy and the colours stay vibrant. Leafy greens can be thrown in last as they will cook so quickly.

I love when I get a bit of char on my veg. Just a little, not too much. It’s either a sign of a good hot wok OR a wok that needs washing. Let’s all agree it’s the first thing, ok?

Another tip: When adding your liquid flavourings, such as soy sauce, pour AROUND the sides not onto the stuff. And don’t go crazy, you can check later when the noodles go in if you need to add more to adjust the flavour. You want to be able to taste the strands of noodles that you just spent forever tossing with sesame oil. Not a mouthful of light soy sauce. The noodles are THE MAIN EVENT.

Oh, my mouth just filled up with saliva. Man, I love food!

4. Hurl everything together in the pan and toss somehow. You may want to add more sesame oil. The sesame oil just makes the noodles SO fragrant and helps with movement.

Oh, remember that sauce aisle? Get yourself a good quality sesame oil too. You should be able to SMELL the fragrance wafting from a sealed bottle. And it should smell like nothing on earth compared to the regular cheapo version.

I’m not asking you to sit down in the middle of the supermarket and taste test all the different varieties of sesame oil. Just have a sniff, don’t get the bottle too close to your snoz because that grosses people out. Once you get yourself one that smells amazing you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about and you will look back at the cheapo one you used to own and laugh and move on to bigger and better and brighter things.

Confession: My noodles were still a tad clumpy, I was too slow to get them out of the boiling water and I needed to let them cool a little longer but I was HUNGRY and my arms were bored with tossing. So it was go time! Hahaha. They were still AMAZINGLY tasty. This is meant to be an easy fool-proof recipe for hungry/lazy anyway, and turns out, IT IS! Trust! You WILL be triumphant, no matter what!

H-H-Ha-Happy days.


5. Eat and eat and eat (ABOUT TIME!)
🍜

If you have leftovers, they taste so good chilled!

Here’s another version that my mum did whilst she was in town to visit me. She used shredded omelette with shredded carrot and a little bit of spring onion. Again all done with the above steps and it was AMAZING. I want my Mommy now. And I want those noodles back in my life right now. Excuse me whilst my heart and stomach have a quick weep. Pretty much the best meal of my life. (I know, could I BE more dramatic?)

Goes with everything

Those prawns were the size of my plate and they were so good and also they were about $10 each. I’ve never spent that much money on something that came wrapped up in A LEAF. But they were SO GOOD. Saving up my pennies to one day buy one more.Simple is best

Look how shiny.

*DROOLS ALL OVER KEYBOARD AND SHORT CIRCUITS LAPTOP*

Ok, if you think shredded omelette is a great idea but who can be bothered, just fry an egg and slide it on top. I love when the yolk is still a little gooey and it MINGLES with the noodles.
With fried egg

Or just you know, whatever. They’re good any which way.

Plainish; with shredded chicken (or really just one shard because I got really lazy and really hungry); or with a fried egg.

Good served cold
cold noodle salad
Fried egg on top

 

Super Easy Stir Fried Noodles

It’s 9:30 in the morning and I must go get myself some noodles for breakfast. According to TCM it’s great to have warm meals.

Don’t quote me, I WILL manipulate random pieces of information to suit my wants. (I call these my convenient theories, of which I have many)

And right now noodles: I WANTS IT.

Enjoy and chat later! If you tried making these, lemme know! xx

 

Yoga Posture Library: Finding Comfort in Your Yoga Pose and 6 Steps for Finding Your Compass (Pose)

Yoga Posture Library: Finding Comfort in Your Yoga Pose and 6 Steps for Finding Your Compass (Pose)

by Dominique

We are here

Vocabulary

Parivrtta Surya Yantrasana

Parivrtta = Revolved

Surya = Sun

Yantra = Instrument, usually a mystical diagram

Known in English as Compass Pose or Sundial Pose.

To get straight into Compass Pose (after an appropriate warm up), head on over to the the middle bit, we’ll catch up with you!
One of the most helpful lessons I learned in Yoga was how sometimes all I need to do is take another look. Different postures are often the same but placed differently in space. Rather than trying to learn each posture on its own and find comfort on that island, I realised that many of these postures could be grouped together. If I could only find the thread that connected all of them.

A lot of mixed metaphors! Forgive me!

Compass Pose is usually done seated. With the back thigh lifting off this becomes a modified version of the arm balance posture often referred to as ‘Flying Compass Pose’. In the flying version, the back leg is outstretched in the manner of a side plank. Keeping the back knee down makes the posture more accessible as the balance requirement is reduced.

I have also come across the flying version being referred to as Visvamitrasana, Pose dedicated to the Sage Visvamitra. From what I understand, in Visvamitrasana, the top arm reaches up to the ceiling. The posture is advanced by reaching the top arm to catch hold of the floating foot.

Ok, let’s go back to this idea of finding comfort. Asana refers to being comfortable and steady in a posture. But, but, BUT.How does one get comfortable in a posture that is simply not comfortable? You know what would be comfortable in Chair Pose? An actual chair to sit on. Not a pretend chair made of the steam that rose up from my burning thighs. How does one find steadiness when balanced upside down on two hands? Aside from taking the variation of face-planting, which is steady but distinctly uncomfortable, ow my nose.

Finding Comfort:

Different people will have different ways to seek out comfort and steadiness.

A good rule of thumb to check how you’re doing is to ask  yourself if you are breathing – slowly, steadily, with awareness or if you are holding your breath.

Another one is to check on your level of attention – are you focused, gazing steadily, or frowning hard at the current task.

You can also check how you are holding yourself – soft, relaxed but actively engaging your muscles, or tensing, hunching the shoulders around your ears, biting your lips and so on.

That last one will give you an idea of how okay you feel with the outcome of your practice. Ask: Do you have to nail this posture today?

Be calm and trust the unknown. For me, finding comfort means being okay with what is going on and feeling comfortable with my body and believing in the ability of it to support me wherever I end up. If I hold my breath I know I am fearful and tense. Knowing that being ‘successful’ in any posture won’t make me a better person, and ‘failing’ a posture won’t mean I am a bad person allows me to practice with detachment. I feel OKAY with the possibility that today may not be the day I get my leg behind my head or fly my compass, or leap like Hanuman into the splits. And I am then free to practice. 

Understand the difference between challenge and strain. There may be awareness of some intense stretching sensations or a serious amount of strength being demanded or that, “Do you smell smoke? Because I KNOW my quads are on fire” feeling but through all of that I understand the individual actions I am performing and I am BREATHING calmly. Maintaining a steady and calm breath means I am less likely to exceed my limitations for the day and end up hurting myself, physically and emotionally. It’s so important to practice with compassion! Yoga practice is not a torture practice. If I get my breathing under control, my thought patterns change from scattered, critical, irrelevant, tense to focused, precise, quiet and steady. And I feel okay, fine, maybe even peaceful. Despite the smoke signals.

Learning New Poses, like Compass Pose

I’ve noticed that people learning a sequence like the Sun Salutations would try to hurry through the current posture to get into the next and become breathless. If they are asked to focus on breathwork, they report feeling less frazzled, especially if instructed to allow the breathing to slow down. It’s the same for learning a new pose. This was my personal experience as well.

The first time I saw someone in the full flying version of Compass Pose, I remember thinking, “HOW did you get there?”

The first time I experienced being taught the full flying version of Compass Pose with the body in an extended side plank position, I had forgotten about that person and was thinking to myself, “Where is this going?”

Anyway, once we were there* in the posture (as close to ‘there’ as a first attempt could feel, accompanied by me calling out, “Um, something like this?!”) I didn’t feel great, I just felt awkward, weird, gangly, tired, sore, confused, frustrated, and EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE. All my limbs were crying, “ARGH we don’t belong in this configuration.” My breath was erratic just like my thoughts. I didn’t recognise where I was and I was freaked. I had also forgotten about the idea of comfort and steadiness in my posture. I didn’t fall out of the posture but crashed, backwards on my bum.

You know how sometimes people learn a new posture and they seem so elated? That was not me. I was just bewildered. I couldn’t wait for naptime Savasana and then also lunch.

At the time of that class, I was familiar with side plank and had developed a healthy dislike of it. (I won’t pretend I like it much these days but I see the value in it and I appreciate it.) I had also experienced the seated compass pose. And although I knew how to add I wasn’t connecting the dots between the two postures and my current extremely uncomfortable mess of tangled limbs. I was so suspended in this huge reaction of being uncomfortable that there was just so much disconnect between my body and my mind.

But could I really claim to have learnt that posture that day?

Later on after a day or a week or let’s be honest, more like a month had gone by, I took a closer look at what went down. Ohhhhhhhhh heyyyyy…. that kind of looks like if I did that stretchy side thing with my top arm whilst balancing in a sideways plank. But how the heck do I get into it again? What leg goes with what hand? What does this foot back here do? If I go into side plank, I can’t get the front foot off the floor. If I lift the front foot off the floor, I can’t get into side plank. UGHHHHH. 

Over time as I played around with the different shapes, I sort of made friends with this posture. I wouldn’t call us bosom buddies or the kind of friends that need to be together all the time, more like a long distance good friendship. We’re happy to see each other when we can but if we don’t, that’s okay too, maybe another time, we’ll catch up and see what the other is up to.

THE MIDDLE BIT: Finding Compass Pose

Let’s see if we can’t get you two acquainted:

To enter (hover over each photo for detailed instructions):

Step 1
Step 1: Kneel on one knee, keeping the other leg upright, foot placed flat on the floor. Feet are roughly perpendicular: draw an imaginary straight line from the second toe of the foot out in front, down the heel, and intersecting with the ball of the back foot. The same hand as the foot in front threads through the inside of the front knee to the outside of the foot. Avoid sinking down into the back leg.

 

Step 2
Step 2: Wriggle the front shoulder so that the front knee rests against and even slightly over the shoulder. If you have long arms like me you’ll probably bend the elbows to get under.
Step 3
Step 3: Get lifted by pressing your hips away from the floor and strengthening that front arm. Think about how your torso and supporting arm behave when you are in a sideways plank. As your supporting arm extends, let the front foot start to float off the floor, or just the heel. Keep the shin pressing firmly into the ground and the upper body light.
Step 4
Step 4: Stay chill! If you need a little more stability, tuck the back toes under. Keep the front shoulder and the inside of the front knee close.
Step 5
Step 5: Ok looking a little determined here, haha! Ignore me and take hold of the front foot with the opposite arm. Notice the grip, hold the foot from OVER the front of the foot and then wrap the fingers around the outside edge of the foot. Alot of people get the foot in their hand but sink down into the back leg and struggle to get back up again. Stay lifted by keeping the back leg engaged. Alternatively, just stay here like this, or don’t reach for the foot and keep the top arm along the top side of your body.
Step 6
Step 6: Ok, if you’re still feeling pretty comfortable so far, hang onto the foot whilst you start to let the leg straighten. As that happens, let the top arm slide behind your ear.

Got it? 

Compass Pose

 

From here: Gaze upwards, or if that is uncomfortable simply look ahead. In this instance I just gazed directly forwards rather than up as my torso wasn’t revolving as far as usual. What I would go on to do is go back to opening my hips a little more and do you see how that back thigh may want to press forward a little more? I’d work on those and then revisit the posture again and see if anything has changed.

Alternatively:

  • Keep the front leg bent
  • Float the front foot off the floor and keep the top arm flat against your side or reaching upwards
  • Feeling really steady? Try again with your back leg stretched out in one line with the rest of your body
  • Practice the seated version of the posture, back leg bent or stretched out directly in front or half crossed
  • Stop at whichever step is most appropriate to you and stay there

Whatever variation you take, keep breathing and stay calm!

Inhale, release the foot; exhale, take a moment. Switch sides. Let me know how you went!

Note: I cannot stress how important it is to practice with awareness. The most important tool for me has been to learn to understand my body. Learn about your body, become aware of what conditions it thrives under and what conditions it does not. Do not force. Find a teacher you can trust to guide you.

Take care and be well! x

*what does ‘there’ mean anyway? In the beginning of practice I would think of ‘there’ as the place where I matched the picture in Light on Yoga. I currently think of ‘there’ as where I can go based on who I am on a given day but I don’t know until I start moving where I will get to.